Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Introduction to St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, by the Irish and those who are Irish at heart. While returning from church on March 14th a few years ago, I was able to watch some of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Toronto, Canada, and I thought to myself, “How can I share this experience with my readers.” I took out my phone and captured part of the parade. Any experience you have in life, has the potential to be a learning experience that you can use at work.
Here is the video, not a very good one, seems as if I had shaky hands.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade from Avil Beckford on Vimeo.
About St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, but is celebrated in many countries including Canada where I live. Many people know St. Patrick’s Day as one where you wear green clothing, feast, and indulge in drinks such as Guinness, but is there more to this day?
“The day’s spirit is to celebrate the universal baptization of Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. Or, rather, ‘be an Irish Day ‘. And the Irish has borne it as part of their national tradition in everywhere they populated and prospered. The Catholic feast day for this most loved of Irish saints has become a holiday in celebration of the Irish and Irish culture. The leprechaun, a Celtic fairy, has become entrenched as a chief symbol for this holiday, as is the shamrock, an ancient symbol for the triple goddess Brigit.” Source
First published in March 2010
So who is this St. Patrick anyway, and why is he a saint? A Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who lived AD 387–493 (approximated), St. Patrick is regarded as a Patron Saint of Ireland. According to Wikipedia, when Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured from Britain by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland. After six years, he escaped and returned home to his family. He went into the church, and when he became an ordained bishop, he returned to Ireland and served there. This is a lesson in forgiveness, if you were in St, Patrick’s shoes, would you have returned to Ireland? “By the eighth century he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland,” according to Wikipedia.
What did St. Patrick do in Ireland that he was bestowed the honor of patron saint? Was it his ministry in Ireland? Why did he return to Ireland after being held as a slave there? I have no idea why he is revered as a patron saint, but Wikipedia sheds light on why he returned to Ireland to serve as a bishop. Two of his letters survived, and in one he talks about a vision he had after he returned home. For information, he also had a vision before he escaped.
“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” Click here for Source
- People come together to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, what are other ways that we can come together to bond, share an experience and build community in the process?
- In the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, people were relaxed and showing their playful side. In what ways can we forget about the daily stressors of life, and get in touch with our inner and playful child?
- Despite the cold weather, people in the parade were Irish dancing, when was the last time you did a jig?
- It appears that St. Patrick was very forgiving, is there someone that you should forgive? You could write a letter of forgiveness and burn it. I am also saying this to myself
What other lessons would you add?
St. Patrick’s Day Books
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Curious George tabbed board book
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover!
How to Catch a Leprechaun
The Story of Saint Patrick (Ireland’s Best Known Stories In A Nutshell Book 3)
The post What We Can Learn From St. Patrick’s Day appeared first on The Invisible Mentor.
This post first appeared on The Invisible Mentor - Bite-sized Learning For People On The Go, please read the originial post: here
